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Phew what a scorcher! – Sales of hot chilli sauces soar

Brits&#8217; reputation for being lovers of mild food is up in smoke &#8211; new statistics show that we are fast becoming a nation of &#8216;hot&#8217; heads as far as table sauces go.

Brits’ reputation for being lovers of mild food is up in smoke – new statistics show that we are fast becoming a nation of ‘hot’ heads as far as table sauces go.

Where once a bottle of ketchup, brown sauce or a jar of mustard would suffice, more of us are now spicing meals up with hot sauces.

In the last five years, Tesco has more than doubled its range of hot chilli sauces from around 20 in 2010, to more than 50 now.

Some of the most popular include:

East End Very Hot Green Chilli Sauce – 100 per cent growth in last year

Cholula – up 80 per cent

Encona Creole Pepper Sauce – up 70 per cent in last year

Encona African Peri Peri Sauce – up 50 per cent

Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli Oil – up 30 per cent

Aunt May’s Bajan Pepper Sauce – up 25 per cent

Tesco world foods buying manager Matt Clark said: “Not only have we more than doubled our range of hot sauces in the last five years, we have also brought in hotter varieties to meet the big demand.

“Now there is something for everyone – from mild sweet chilli dipping sauces for hot sauce novices to mid-range Peri Peri sauces which were even popular with the England football team at the 2010 World Cup.”

“Interest has also been created by popular TV programmes such as Man v.Food which have featured chilli challenges making these sauces popular with young adults in particular.”

Britain’s love affair with hot food began in the 1960s with the great curry house boom.

In those days a regular curry would be hot enough for most Brits but by the 80s a Madras or Vindaloo became the norm for many people.

By the 90s Thai and Mexican food featuring whole cooked hot chilli peppers took our taste buds to new levels.

But it’s the last 10 years that has seen an explosion of chilli pepper culture with extremely hot Scotch Bonnets and even the notorious Trinidad Scorpion hitting our high streets.

This year Tesco plans to extend its range of extra hot chilli sauces even further.

For more information please contact the Tesco Press Office on
01992 644645We are a team of over 500,000 people in 12 markets dedicated to providing the most compelling offer to our customers.